Letters - July 3, 2008

The new road design submitted by C.M.E. to York County for the intersection of Highway 161 and Adnah Church Road in Newport is no better than the original design. The plan to have right only turns out and in at Adnah Church Road and Highway 161 does not address the Fire Department concerns nor does it permit traffic coming up 161 from Rock Hill to access the two businesses already located on the corners of 161 and Adnah Church Road, T.C.'s Shaved Ice and Alexander's Produce.

York County Council members are once again faced with a question of right and wrong in their decision. Is it right to damage existing businesses at public expense to benefit the landowner whose property becomes road front property when the county extends Hands Mill Road down through woods where no road now exists?

The best design would be to leave the intersection of Adnah Church Road and Highway 161 alone. This intersection has never caused any accident nor have any other intersections caused any accidents.

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I challenge any so-called engineer from any design firm to show me a citation written to an intersection for causing an accident. Bad drivers cause accidents and no amount of unnecessary change to an intersection can eliminate bad driving.

Since there is no safety reason for changing Adnah Church Road and Highway 161, the public ought to start asking why the money is being wasted. Is unnecessarily complicated design responsible for the huge short fall in "Pennies for Progress" money? Why should the County buy new property for a road when a road already exists? Something smells about the C.M.E. design and I wonder what it is.

William Alexander

York

Thanks for voting

Dear District 2 Citizens and the People of York County,

I would like to thank all those who turned out to vote during the recent primary and run-off elections. Whether you cast a vote for me or my opponents, by taking the time to vote for your representation, you showed that you care for our community. I would also like to recognize Bill Stiles and David McCorkle for the time and commitment they put into their campaigns, and especially Bill for his support in the run-off election.

As the Councilman for District 2, I will continue to work toward the common goal of making our district and the County as a whole, a place where people will always want to call home, while keeping our quality of life and our local identity in tact.

Serving on the Council is a difficult job and support from citizens is not only appreciated but truly needed. Our County is strong and our Council united. We will continue to strengthen staff in order to be more consistent in all areas relating to York County. Some of these areas would include, planning strategies and ordinances, creation of parks and recreation, maintaining the integrity of our infrastructure, helping our litter and recycling programs through an updated solid waste management plan, and regional cooperation in regards to water which includes the continued fight against the IBT transfer. Everything listed above and much more is actively being worked on by your Council. In the upcoming months I look forward to actively helping the Bethel Fire Department in pursuit of a special use tax to increase the funding for emergency services in our area.

I hope to bring continued consistency to our County Council by serving as your Councilman for the next 2 years. If you would like to talk or meet, please call. My door has always been and will continue to be open. Thank you for allowing me to continue to work for the people of District 2 and the people of York County.

Tom Smith

Lake Wylie

I'll be back

I would like to thank all who cared enough about our Community's future to come out and vote in the recent elections.

Unfortunately less than 1/3 of 1 percent of the Community made that decision.

I promised to meet monthly with an Advisory Council, members of the Community including Business, Civic, Government and Neighborhood Associations to set and achieve goals for District 2. To my knowledge no one has ever attempted this; sadly most have never met in an open forum with the Community they represent.

In order to achieve our goals, we must act as a team; our Community is viewed basically as a tax base by York County with few of our tax dollars ever returned. Most of our Representatives never visit the area and have no idea what our issues are or what problems their decisions have created or will create for our Community.

Sadly the majority of the Community and the Voters who did come out last Tuesday decided we have no business being involved in our Community's decision making process and that one persons views were adequate for us all.

Our elected Officials should be impartial Judges, serving without compromise and influence for the betterment of the Community in which they serve. They should be pro active and should not be Project Advocates, Facilitators or Promoters for a few Developers in our Community.

Our precious natural resource The Catawba, is the most endangered River in the Country, yet development is occurring in it's watershed with reckless disregard. The Coves of Lake Wylie are polluted with somewhat treated sewage and chemicals and are filling in with silt from substandard Development Ordinances.

News Conferences are held, articles are written, promises are made, the River Keepers intensify their efforts and are fought back by the Developers Attorneys, and we return to the same destructive patterns. Some things never change.

Our Campaign to involve the Community, protect our Natural Resources and our quality of life will never stop. Please visit Mccorkle4council.com for future updates or to express concerns.